california

Introducing
Zeenat Ganie
A critically acclaimed human
October 2019

Zeenat
Ganie
An Introduction To The Life, Loves
And Oddities Of A Young Mind
Looking For Stimulation

CHAPTER 1: THE
AWKWARD
INTRODUCTION
Hi. My name is Zeenat, although most
people drop the second syllable and just
call me Zee. I created this little book to
show you a bit about who I am, what I
want from life and what is important to
me. So buckle your seat belts kids, its
going to be a bumpy ride.

That's me!

In 1997, I was born into a family of ive. The
youngest of three children, I learnt very quickly
how important family is to me.
My parents have lived in the same apartment in
Durban for more than twenty- ive years, and
that is where I spent the irst seventeen years of
my life.

Meet
the
family
dec 2018

Growing up, all I needed was a pen or some
crayons to keep me occupied. My dad used to cut
his old desk calendars into tiny pages and keep
them in the car for me to doodle on on the way
home from school. Every year I would get an art
set for my birthday and every year it would
make me incredibly happy.

Some old drawings
from the back of my
school books (circa
2008).

When I was eight, I wrote my irst story. I don't
remember much about it except that it was
about aliens and that my teacher gave me a
hundred percent for it. She also posted it on the
notice board outside class. I remember feeling
really proud of myself. From then on, I wrote
little stories, not for school, but for myself.

Me, age 11, physically
cutting and pasting my
favourite quotes into a
book for inspiration.

CHAPTER 2: THE PART
OF MY LIFE THAT I
LITERALLY ONLY
SURVIVED BECAUSE
OF BOB ROSS
When I was eighteen, I move to Cape Town
to study Information Systems and
Computer Science at The University of Cape
Town.

I wore this UCT hoodie
everyday for an entire
semester

It took me a semester at UCT to realise that a
career in Computer Science was not for me.
Whilst I loved that my problem-solving skills
were being tested, I felt like there was something
missing. I was neglecting a part of myself. My
creativity - one of the traits that I admire most
about myself - was lying dormant. I was not
being challenged creatively and I felt like I was
losing a part of myself. My second semester at
UCT was one of the unhappiest times of my life.

There was a lot of dark
circles and donuts during
this time.

At the start of my second year at UCT, I changed
my degree and decided to study marketing
instead. In hindsight, it was one of the best
decisions I have ever made, second only to the
time I decided to mix the butter salt and chives
lavours in my popcorn at the cinema (trust me,
its life-changing).

I was a lot happier
studying marketing. I
was actually excited to
write those 3000-word
essays. My friends
thought I was crazy. But
I knew that I had found
my passion. Changing
my degree had me
creating again. More
importantly, it had me
smiling again.

CHAPTER 3:
REMEMBER THAT KID?
WELL THIS IS HER
NOW
A few things have remained constant over
the years. I still love to draw, to write, to
create. However, I have changed a lot,
especially in the past five years. This is who
I am now.

I recently accepted a part of myself that I had
previously ignored. I choose not to label both my
gender and sexuality. In 2019, I joined Rainbow
UCT as the irst step to familiarising myself with
this new community that I form a part of. I truly
believe that people of every race, nationality,
culture, sexuality and gender identity should be
able to be unapologetically themselves as long
as it brings no harm to others.

my
first
pride
march

I grew up in a lower-middle class family. My
mom has been working 12-hour days for more
than ten years. My dad has been driving the
same car since I was in primary school.
However, I have the fortune of saying that I have
never had to worry about where my next meal
would be coming from. I am acutely aware of
this privilege of mine and try to help others
where I can. Giving back is extremely important
to me. Over the years, I have volunteered for
many charity groups and organisations and I
hope to give more once I am self-su icient.

Every two weeks, I would
volunteer at The Art of
Living Society to help
make 800 sandwiches for
a children's home in
Cape Town.

I am an absolute
bookworm. My New
Years resolution
was to read at least
24 books this year
and I have
accomplished that. I
aim to read at least
30 next year. My
favourite reads this
year were:

I love music - so much so that I am about to dedicate
four whole pages to it (sorry). Whenever I ind a new
song that I love, I get the warm and fuzzies. My only
fault is that I will play that song on repeat until I hate
it. My playlist at the moment looks something like
this:

Boys will be bugs - Cavetown
Generation Why - Conan Gray
People - The 1975
Psychotic Kids - Yungblud
I want to break free - Queen
Do it all the time - IDK How But They
Found Me
All the kids are depressed - Jeremy Zucker
Sun lower - Post Malone
Narcissist - No Rome
I Miss You - Blink 182